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Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Bicycles |
Founded | 1986 |
Founder | David Lynskey |
Headquarters | Ooltewah, Tennessee, United States |
Key people | Peter Hurley, CEO |
Products | Bicycles |
Parent | American Bicycle Group |
Website | www.litespeed.com |
Litespeed is an American bicycle manufacturer founded in 1986 in Ooltewah, Tennessee by David Lynskey. [1] [2] Litespeed makes titanium and carbon fiber frame road racing bicycles and mountain bikes. Titanium bicycle frames are famed for their ride quality. [3] [4] Litespeed, along with triathlon specific bicycle manufacturer Quintana Roo, [5] is a subsidiary of the American Bicycle Group. [6]
David Lynskey's titanium frame building days started in a custom machine shop known as Southeast Machine started by his father William. The shop specialized in exotic metals (mainly titanium). His interest in bicycles began when he took up cycling while recovering from a running injury. He used leftover titanium from a job at Olin Chemical to build the first frame in the early 80's. Frame after frame was made until one was deemed show worthy and taken to the Long Beach bike show in 1987. Thus began the journey that would make Litespeed the go-to authority on titanium bicycles. In 1999, after the death of William Lynskey, David decided to sell the company to American Bicycle Group. In 2006 David opened Lynskey Performance Designs. [7]
Litespeed bicycles have been tested and ridden by many in the competitive cycling and triathlon world (all under the Lynskey family's time owning the company): Tour de France cyclists Greg LeMond, Robbie McEwen, and Lance Armstrong; [8] wheel innovator Steve Hed; IRONMAN competitors Tim DeBoom and Cameron Brown; Olympians Simon Whitefield, Jeff Kabush, the ITU Triathlon World Cup champion Vanessa Fernandes (Portugal), and 59-time French champion and 13-time world champion Jeannie Longo. [9]
In the 1999 Tour de France, Lance Armstrong rode a titanium Litespeed Blade painted and labeled as a Trek during time trials. Several professionals have ridden Litespeeds painted as other brands. European brands such as Eddy Merckx and Bianchi have contracted Litespeed to construct titanium frames in their own lines.
Litespeed purchased Merlin (bicycles) and Quintana Roo in 2000 from Saucony, and trademark of Tomac in 2001. [10] In March 2011, American Bicycle Group announced that bicycle retailer Competitive Cyclist of Little Rock, Arkansas had acquired the rights to the Merlin Metalworks brand. [11]
Litespeed has also sponsored the professional cycling teams Lotto–Adecco, DFL–Cyclingnews–Litespeed, Calyon/Litespeed Pro Cycling, and Team Maxxis. In 2014, Litespeed announced that they would sponsor the Astellas Pro Cycling Team for three seasons. [12]
Litespeed has been a contractor and consultant to NASA for projects that require titanium-intensive sub-assemblies including the landing gear on the Mars Curiosity Rover. [13] [14]
Litespeed appeared at a White House event with then-President Donald Trump in 2019, resulting in backlash. [15]
T-Series: The titanium T-Series includes award-winning T1 (formerly the Archon), the T3, T5, and the T7 which was introduced in 2013. The T1sl replaces the T1 in 2016. It is 15% lighter than the 2015 T1.
L-Series: The carbon L-Series was introduced in 2012. Litespeed has four L-Series bikes: L1R, L1 (SRAM Red), Li2, and L3 (Ultegra). The L-Series is an all-around road racing bike, with an asymmetrical frame, and UCI-approved.
C-Series: The carbon C-Series was introduced in 2008. Litespeed has four C-Series bikes: C1R, C1 (Dura-Ace), Ci2, and C3 (Ultegra). The C-Series is an aerodynamic road bike series.
M-Series: Litespeed has two M-Series bikes: M1 and M3. The M-Series are built to exceed the demands of training and racing, day in and day out, with design features that are unheard-of at this price point.
Non-Current Titanium Models: Classic, Ultimate, Catalyst, Vortex, Nachez, Tuscany, Liege, Palmares, Arenberg, Siena, Ghisallo, Veneto, Solano, Firenze, Teramo, Bella, Ardennes, Archon, Niota, Icon, Xicon, Tachyon, Blade, Appalachian.
Aluminum Models: Sirius, Avior, Mira, Vela, Palio, Hyperion, Capella. Aluminum frames first introduced in 2002, remained in production until approximately 2010. These models included titanium wrapped, carbon forks and seat stays.
Pinhoti SL: Named after the rugged trail system in Georgia, The Pinhoti SL is the perfect titanium hardtail. Whether geared or singlespeed, it has amazing vertical compliance with perfect torsional rigidity. Compact rear-center and shorter wheelbase create an agile platform for quick and responsive handling. Elevated seat stays yield more support and stability for a balanced center. [16]
Citico: Named after the Citico Creek Wilderness in Southeastern Tennessee, the pro-grade, Archon-inspired Citico is the first MTB frame to use a T1 engineered 6Al/4V, 6-sided and flared top tube and an oversized bi-axially ovalized down tube to maximize steering feedback, accuracy, and front end stiffness. Compatible with both 26" and 650b wheels. [16]
Pisgah: Geometry identical to the Citico, the Pisgah puts Litespeed performance into service for any cross-country, single-speed, or urban MTB build. Compatible with both 26" and 650b wheels. [16]
Sewanee: A full-suspension cross country race bike, the latest Sewanee features 90 mm of rear travel in a cold-worked 3Al/2.5V titanium frame. Compatible with both 26" and 650b wheels. [16]
Cohutta: Features the industry's first 29er-specific titanium tubeset. [16]
Blade: The legendary Litespeed Blade [17] has been reintroduced as a Limited Edition carbon frameset in Litespeed's 2016 model lineup. [18] The Blade is a super-minimalist TT frameset, designed to excel on the hillier, windier, more challenging courses and no penalty on the flat, fast days. [18] Astellas Pro Cycling competed with carbon Litespeed Blades in the 2015 UCI Road World Championship TTT (Team Time Trial). The original Blade models were crafted with titanium material and ridden by many great cyclists, such as Lance Armstrong. [17]
Gravel: A bike designed for the recent craze of riding on gravel roads. It has a road bike style frame and handlebars, disc brakes, and room for wide tires. [19]
Litespeed uses 6/4 titanium, [20] which is an alloy of titanium with 6 percent aluminum and 4 percent vanadium, instead of the more-common 3/2.5 titanium. [21] It is more difficult to work with, but has a better strength to weight ratio than other available alloys. [20] It was initially not available as tubes, so Litespeed bought thin plates and cold-rolled and welded their own tubes. [20]
A key feature of Litespeed's C-Series of aero road bikes, AeroLogic is the incorporation of aerodynamic elements into frame design without the penalty of excess weight. AeroLogic features on the C-Series include a shrouded water bottle mount on the down tube, aero-tuned tube cross sections, a "morphed" shaping of the seat stays, and a proprietary bladed and bowed aero fork. [22] [23]
Litespeed's Reactive Pressure Molding (RPM) is an advanced molding method utilized during manufacture of Litespeed's newest composite frames. The three primary benefits of RPM are weight reduction, increased stiffness, and improved durability. This advanced process allows designs elements far beyond what can be accomplished with conventional bladder molding. Unique features such as an all-carbon head tube, compatible with the most precise ZS style press fit headsets, as well the multitude of AeroLogic aerodynamic elements are incorporated without the need of solid, permanent components and unwanted filler materials. The result is higher performance with no weight penalty plus additional benefits of improved strength, impact resistance, and stiffness. [24] [25]
A bicycle frame is the main component of a bicycle, onto which wheels and other components are fitted. The modern and most common frame design for an upright bicycle is based on the safety bicycle, and consists of two triangles: a main triangle and a paired rear triangle. This is known as the diamond frame. Frames are required to be strong, stiff and light, which they do by combining different materials and shapes.
A bicycle wheel is a wheel, most commonly a wire wheel, designed for a bicycle. A pair is often called a wheelset, especially in the context of ready built "off the shelf" performance-oriented wheels.
Trek Bicycle Corporation is a bicycle, cycling product and electric motorcycle manufacturer and distributor under brand names Trek, Electra Bicycle Company, Bontrager, and Diamant Bikes. The company has previously manufactured bikes under the Gary Fisher, LeMond Racing Cycles, Klein, and Villiger Bikes brand names. With its headquarters in Waterloo, Wisconsin, Trek bicycles are marketed through 1,700 independently owned bicycle shops across North America, subsidiaries in Europe, Asia, South Africa, as well as distributors in 90 countries worldwide. Nearly all Trek bicycles are manufactured outside the United States, in countries including the Netherlands, Germany, Taiwan, and China.
Cicli Pinarello S.p.A. is an Italian bicycle manufacturer based in Treviso, Italy. Founded in 1953, it supplies mostly handmade bicycles for the road, track, E-bikes(NYTRO), mountain bikes and cyclo-cross. The company also produces an in-house component brand – MOST.
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A track bicycle or track bike is a bicycle optimized for racing at a velodrome or outdoor track. Unlike road bicycles, the track bike is a fixed-gear bicycle; thus, it has only a single gear ratio and has neither a freewheel nor brakes. Tires are narrow and inflated to high pressure to reduce rolling resistance.
Colnago Ernesto & C. S.r.l. or Colnago is a manufacturer of road-racing bicycles founded by Ernesto Colnago near Milano in Cambiago, Italy. It remained a family-controlled firm until May 4, 2020, when it was announced that the UAE-based investment company, Chimera Investments LLC, had acquired a majority of the Colnago shares from Ernesto Colnago, although the headquarters will remain located in Italy after the acquisition. Instead of following his family's farming business, Ernesto Colnago chose to work in the cycle trade, and was apprenticed first to Gloria Bicycles at the age of 13, and subsequently taking up road racing. After a bad crash ended his racing career, he began subcontracting for Gloria, and opened his own shop in 1954, building his first frames the same year. While building frames, he remained much in demand as a racing mechanic. He was second mechanic on the Nivea team Giro d'Italia under Faliero Masi in 1955, eventually being employed as head mechanic for the Molteni team of Belgian cycling legend Eddy Merckx in 1963.
A bicycle seatpost, seatpin, saddlepole, saddle pillar, or saddle pin is a tube that extends upwards from the bicycle frame to the saddle. The amount that it extends out of the frame can usually be adjusted, and there is usually a mark that indicates the minimum insertion. Seatposts can be made of steel, aluminum, titanium, carbon fiber, or aluminum wrapped in carbon fiber.
Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd. is a Taiwanese bicycle manufacturer, recognized as the world's largest bicycle designer and manufacturer. Giant has manufacturing facilities in Taiwan, the Netherlands, China and Hungary. They have future plans for Vietnam to be the fifth location.
Tom Ritchey is an American bicycle frame builder, Category 1 racer, fabricator, designer, and founder of Ritchey Design. Ritchey is a US pioneer in modern frame building and the first production mountain bike builder/manufacturer in the history of the sport. He is an innovator of bicycle components that have been used in winning some of the biggest cycling competitions in the world including the UCI World Championships, the Tour de France and the Olympics. In 1988, Ritchey was inducted into the inaugural Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in Crested Butte, Colorado : and 2012, inducted to the United States Bicycle Hall of Fame in Davis, California.
Kogswell Cycles, Inc. was a small bicycle frame company with its headquarters in El Dorado Hills, California. Kogswell frames were designed in the United States and manufactured in Taiwan. Kogswell frames often ran counter to mainstream bicycle industry trends. According to Biking.com, Kogswell "focuses on creating bicycle frames that lean more towards utilitarian design rather than speed and rough roading."
Ellsworth Handcrafted Bicycles is a bicycle manufacturer based in San Diego, CA. Founded by Tony Ellsworth in 1991, they produced a wide range of handmade bicycles made in the U.S.: mountain, road, beach cruisers, BMX, and fat bikes. The brand has gone through four ownership changes since 2014, and now focus on producing high-quality mountain bikes specifically in the genres of XC, trail, and enduro. Ellsworth also produce a designer/cruiser bike known as "The Ride"
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Lynskey Performance Designs LLC, is a titanium bicycle designer and manufacturing company based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, founded and currently operated by the Lynskey family, who began building titanium bicycles in 1984. The family founded the company Litespeed Titanium, Which they sold in 1999. They began Lynskey Performance Designs in January 2006. Lynskey designs bicycles for the specific needs of road, mountain, touring, commuting, and urban riding. All Lynskey bicycles utilize titanium, an expensive metal that offers enduring strength yet is very lightweight. Lynskey also designs a collection of stems, seatposts, and handlebars.
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The Lynskey family formed Litespeed in 1986
The Tennessee-built bike offers Ti's legendary ride: The frame feels marvelously supple without being noodley soft, and it's second to none in both weight and durability.
Titanium bikes aren't popular or cutting-edge—but their ride is unique and absolutely astounding
NASA has built the landing gear using titanium fabricated by Litespeed.
the Litespeed Blade is a bike with a storied history
This redesigned ride offers versatility with a road-bike feel
Aerologic features including cross-section aero-tuning and proprietary water bottle shroud.